Close To My Heart
by Nupur
Summary: When Lord Voldemort has taken everything from Ron and destroyed his whole world, he can only find support in his best friend and remember his lost love.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer- all the characters you recognize are Jo's. (Who else could invent such beautiful and lively characters?)

_**CLOSE TO MY HEART**_

_**CHAPTER 1**_

**PROLOGUE **

Ron sat in his room, his family-photograph in his hands. He saw his mom, dad, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George and Ginny frantically waving at him. Even his best friends Harry and Hermione were there-Harry with Hedwig on his shoulder and Hermione with Pigwidgeon. Seeing this beautiful photograph shot by Colin Creevey (who had become a photo-journalist for the Daily Prophet and one of the best of his kind) bought tears to his eyes. His whole world was in shambles. His parents had been killed by Lord Voldemort in his seventh year. Percy had died for the honour of his family. Ginny had been hit by the fatal Avada Kedavra spell by Lucious Malfoy while she had been doing work for the D.A., which had become a kind of youth wing of the Order of the Phoenix. Hermione, the only girl he had ever loved had given her life to save him. He only had Harry, but he too had to do his duties as an auror and thus could not spend much time with Ron. Charlie could not see anything beyond dragons and he seldom came back from Romania. Fred and George were busy with their joke shop, which they had now expanded to Beauxvillé, the only all-magic village in France. Bill was happily married with Fleur and had a young girl named Cheryl. But Ron was all alone. He had no one to talk to, no one to share his misery with. There was no one on whose shoulder he could cry till his eyes were sore. The Burrow looked empty and uninviting without all the laughter and hospitability of Molly. By now Ron was crying madly, with the photograph clutched to his chest. Somehow he wiped his tears and went upstairs, proceeding to his bedroom. On the way was the room that Ginny and Hermione used to share. He could feel its emptiness. The only two girls in his life-his sister and his fiancée were no more. He went inside and sat on Hermione's bed, trying to remember her beautiful face, the way she used to roll her eyes at him, the way she talked, the way she held him, the way she breathed, everything about her was so close to his heart. He loved her. He still loved her. He opened her bedside drawer and took out a leaf of letters, neatly tied with a ribbon. These were the things Hermione had valued beyond anything else-the letters they had sent to each other. He took out the first one; the envelope bore her name and "BY OWL POST" in block letters. He remembered his first love letter to her in his seventh year at Hogwarts very well.

_Dearest Hermione, _

_Merry Christmas. I don't know what to write in this letter and to tell the truth I am feeling a bit nervous writing this to you. But I do know that you will treasure it always, as it is my first love letter to you. Being away from you for such a long period of time is not an easy task for me and I am dying to see you soon, to take you in my arms and kiss you. By the way, how is your holiday in the Hawaii islands? I hope you're having fun on all those beaches. And I bet you've bought loads of new books. Well, you know that I'm not good at romantic stuff, but nonetheless I have composed a short poem for you. _

_My love for you is like a sweet dream,_

_You've entered my life like a powerful wand beam,_

_The power of love is for all to see,_

_The strength of togetherness, between just you and me._

_It's not very good, but I hope you like it. All is well here at Hogwarts. Dumbledore is planning a huge Christmas party with all the staff members. The Minister of Magic, the oaf, Felix Felicis will be present here. With Fudge gone, Felix is here. What luck the Magical community has got. He's surely not a supporter of You-Know-Who's (You-Know-Who can never have such idiots as supporters) but still what a fathead he is. Hey! Guess what, Snape has got a girlfriend. Last week Harry and I went to Hogsmeade. There we saw Snape walking with a girl with long auburn hair. She was cute, but I dunno what she saw in Snape. Seamus and Dean are swearing that he saw them snogging in Madam Puddifoot's. Snape in Madam Puddifoot's! What a sight it must be. I'm sure you are angry with me because, in my first love letter I mentioned everyone under the sun. Sorry, it was supposed to be private, wasn't it? Well, take care of yourself. The war is not far. I love you._

_Love you always,_

_Ron_

_P.S. Harry sends in his best greetings. _

He closed the letter and tied it with the ribbon, with the ghost of a smile on his face, but tears in his eyes. He could not sit in that room without remembering Hermione. He went to his room and as it was quite dark and tried to get some sleep, but couldn't. The thoughts of Hermione were still haunting his dreams.He thought about the first time he had realized that he was in love with Hermione. It was his fourth year at Hogwarts, when the triwizard tournament had been held in the school. Hermione's date to the Yule Ball had been Victor Krum, a Quidditch star. Ron had been in awe of him, but after he saw Hermione with him, he had become really jealous. But Hermione had been waiting for Ron to ask her out, but he had not done so. This made her angry with him, as it was very clear that Ron had deep feelings for her. In the meantime, Victor had fallen madly in love with Hermione. But Hermione had never considered him more than a friend. Her true love had always been Ron.

Ron took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

My first fan fiction. Please read and review.

The first chapter was bit slow, but loads of great stuff coming up-flashbacks, the Hogwarts graveyard, Felix Felicis, and not to forget, Ron and Hermione's love story.


	2. Snow and Planning

Disclaimer- all the characters you recognize are Miss Rowling's. (Who else could invent such beautiful and lively characters?)

_**CLOSE TO MY HEART**_

_**CHAPTER 2**_

**SNOW AND PLANNING**

"I won again", Ron thumped his fist in the air and yelled. "Harry, seven years have passed since you've been playing wizard chess and you still can't win."

Hermione raised her eyebrows from her book (Advanced Arthimancy) and looked at Ron.

Harry was red in the face and wanted to change the subject. "Game for a bit if snowball fight?" he asked.

As he said this, Ron and Hermione got up and rushed out of their cozy Gryffindor common room. Through the Great Hall, they went straight outside. The snowfall had ceased but it was still very cold. Hermione ran to the patch of snow near Hagrid's hut. Immediately she was hit in the head by a huge snowball and fell down.

"Ouch Ron, I'm going to pay you back for this", she yelled at him as he struggled to get up from the ground.

Ron came to her side and extended his hand to her. "Here, get up now and be ready for another one, bigger than this."

Hermione did accept his hand but was too fast for him. She picked up a huge ball of snow and smashed it right on Ron's face.

"Hermione!" he gasped.

Harry was watching both of them with an amused expression on his face.

"Hey! Take this." He threw a snowball at them, and the game resumed.

The trio was laughing as they playfully hit each other with snowballs. Suddenly, Hermione was hit on the head from behind. They heard a malicious voice saying, "Mudblood is playing snowball fight with Potty and Weasel."

Draco Malfoy and his sidekicks Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, their enemies since first year were standing behind her. As soon as Ron heard him say this, he rushed forward and grabbed him by the collar. Crabbe and Goyle ran forward to help Malfoy. But Hermione was far quicker.

She took out her wand from her robes, pointed it at Cragge and Goyle and shouterd, "Tarantallegra!"

She saw that their legs were moving out of control, and the two Slytherins were shouting with a scared expression on their faces.

Next, she pointed her wand at Draco and yelled, "Densaugeo". Malfoy's teeth started growing endlessly.

Horrified, he was looking at Hermione as he did not know the counter-charm.

Hermione smirked at him and said, "Wasn't this the same spell you used on me few years back? Have fun Malfoy. This should teach you something."

Seeing all this Ron was dumbfounded.

He could only say, "Whoa Hermione! That was cool!"

Hermione quickly ran to him and embraced him, "Ron, there's something I need to tell you." Ron was holding her close. He replied, "I too, need to tell you something-"

But Harry interrupted them. Overexcited, he said "Hermione, I never thought. You were amazing." Hermione smiled at the compliment and the three of them went indoors together.

"Harry, about the next D.A. meeting, we've set it for this Friday. However, with Dedalus Diggle teaching us Defense Against Dark Arts, it has become just a hobby club."

"Yeah, after Lupin, this is the first time we've got a proper teacher." Ron put in.

Harry started counting off his fingers and added, "first Quirrel who housed Voldemort in his head, then that idiot Lockhart, Hermione there's nothing to blush about." He said as he saw Hermione going red in the face. "Then the fake Moody," he resumed, "that Fudge crony, Umbridge and then the ever-forgetting fool, McClaggan in our sixth year."

Ron seconded him and said, "Yeah, I heard they sent him off to St. Mungo's for treatment."

"McClaggan and Lockhart in St. Mungo's together, what a pair!" Harry sniggered.

Hermione looked at the positive side of things and said, "Now that we have got a member of the Order taking Defense Against Dark Arts, I guess we should forget about all those morons."

"Right you are." Ron sided with her.

Hermione looked at him and immediately thought about what he wanted to tell her, but she did not know that Ron was thinking the same about her. She knew better than to ask in front of Harry.

"So Harry," she addressed him putting her thoughts aside, "What are we doing in this D.A. meeting?"

"I reckon we should practice what we did in the past two years. Some are still not very good with their Patronuses." Harry replied.

Suddenly the portrait hole opened and in jumped Colin and Dennis Creevey. They were followed by Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, who were giggling uncontrollably. Dean and Seamus followed them. Harry waved at them and beckoned them over to him.

"We're having the next D.A. meeting this Friday. Be sure to be there." Harry informed them. They nodded and went upstairs to their dormitory. The portrait hole opened again and in came Neville with a blushing Ginny on his arm. Ginny saw Ron staring at her and stopped in her tracks.

"I thought you were going out with Dean." He said.

"Well, I was. But now I'm going out with Neville."

"I-never knew." Ron stammered.

"Big surprise!" Said Ginny. "I and Dean have broken up and now he's going out with Parvati."

"And Seamus with Lavender?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. They make a nice pair, don't they?" saying this, Ginny and Neville went to the extreme corner of the common room and sat down very close together. Ron was still staring after her. "Honestly, Ron you're looking as if Ginny's dating Grawp." Hermione admonished him.

"Well now I know what Parvati and Lavender were blushing about when they came inside." Harry broke in before Ron and Hermione could start bickering again.

"Now that this is up, let's get on with our homework." Said Hermione. "We need to get all O's to get into Auror training."

"Damn Snape!" Ron said. "First he gave me a 'P' in potions and now I've got to write six full scrolls on the Vanishing potion."

"Ron", Hermione said, "Don't start that all over again. You very well know that he gave you two weeks to complete that. You didn't finish it in all these days, that's your fault. No, don't look at me like that. I'm not writing your essay for you." Hermione said as she saw that pleading look on Ron's face, which she knew so well.

"Supper time, guys." Harry announced in a bored voice. "Ron, Hermione is right. We didn't finish our work before and now we have to pay for it. At most we'll get a 'T' in Potions." he finished in a sarcastic voice. Ron smiled at him and said playfully, "Oh yeah, side with her."

Hermione went out of the common room saying something which sounded very much like, "Boys…"


	3. One Love

Disclaimer- all the characters you recognize are Miss Rowling's. (Who else could invent such beautiful and lively characters?)

_**CLOSE TO MY HEART**_

_**CHAPTER 3**_

**ONE LOVE**

"Harry, hurry up. Everyone must be waiting for us." Hermione said impatiently.

"What! For what?" Harry asked groggily from his armchair in which he had been sleeping peacefully.

"It's Friday, ten minutes to seven, and if you're not going to hurry up, we'll be late for the D.A. meeting. I've got to meet Professor McGonagall for something so I'll meet you there, in the Room of Requirement. Call Ron and please HURRY!" She shouted and hurried out of their common room.

"RON!" Harry bellowed to his best friend. By now he was fully awake and was pocketing his wand. He had kept it in his back pocket but took it out as he remembered Moody's advice against losing buttocks. He smiled to himself and shouted once again, "RON!"

"Yeah coming." Ron came out bleary-eyed and muttered, "Such a nice winter evening, let me sleep."

"We have to go for the D.A. meeting." Harry reminded him.

"Oh yeah. Where's Hermione?"

"She had some work with McGonagall. She'll meet us in the Room of Requirement."

"All right, let's go." Ron said and they hurried out. They went to the familiar corridor and saw that the Room of Requirement was open and everybody including Hermione was already there.

They came into the room and muttered, "Sorry, we're late."

"It's all right." Ginny said, "Let's start."

"Well today we'll practice whatever we have done till now." Harry addressed the gathering. There was a chorus of "Oh no" but Hermione silenced them with a look. Quietly, they started practicing stunning spells, patronuses, and everything else they had done within the past two years. Now even Neville could perform all the charms. As the shouts of "Stupefy!" and "Petrificus totalus" filled the room, Harry noticed that it was already nine thirty and blew the whistle. On hearing the whistle, everybody stopped their work. Lavender, who was hit by a really fierce Cheering Charm by Seamus, was laughing madly. Hermione quickly did the counter charm and glared at Seamus.Harry interrupted her thoughts and announced, "It's past nine-thirty and we are very late. Friends, I just have one last piece of advice for today's meeting-run to your dorms before you are caught!" His advice was followed by rapid scrambling for the exit as everyone knew that being caught after nine by Filch meant a week of detention. Harry helped everyone go out and then himself came out in the end. Ron and Hermione were waiting for him outside the Room of Requirement. The trio hurried to the Gryffindor Tower and woke up the fat lady to give her the password ("Snape Stinks"). Harry came in first and went straight to his dorm. Hermione muttered something about completing her Charms homework and sat down in a corner of the common room. As soon as Ron saw that he was alone with Hermione, he went to her and gently tapped her shoulder.

"Hermione, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

"Of course you may. What happened?" she asked.

But they couldn't complete their conversation. Neville ran down the stairs and shouted, "Trevor's missing!"

"Now, Neville! Calm down. When did you see him last?" asked Hermione matter-of-factly.

"I…I don't know. But I haven't seen him since we came back from the Room of Requirement. Hermione, would you mind looking for him in the Room of Requirement? I'll look in the corridors"

"Uh…Neville, it's already bedtime. If we're caught out of bounds…" Hermione said.

"Come on Hermione." Ron tried to convince her. Turning to Neville he said, "We'll look in the Room of Requirement. Don't worry, we'll find Trevor." He added looking at Neville's worried face.

They went out of the portrait hole much to the inconvenience of the fat lady, who had to be woken up. They went straight to the corridor in front of the Room of Requirement, but neither Ron nor Hermione was thinking about finding Neville's toad. Each had the other in mind. When the door finally opened, they discovered that they were in a huge room, with a big bed. There were roses everywhere, in the flower vase on the bedside table, on the bed, some were even glued to the tapestries. Both of them were suddenly very embarrassed to find themselves in such a room. But Ron had already promised himself that today he would pour his heart out for Hermione to hear.

He gently went to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. Hermione instantly turned. Their faces were merely inches away. Ron could feel Hermione's heart beating faster than usual. He could only hear her heartbeats. He did not know whom her heart was beating for.

He couldn't stand like that any longer. He looked deep into her soft brown eyes, which said everything. She closed her eyes and moved closer to Ron. He put an arm around her waist and pulled her even closer. In no time his lips were on hers and they were sinking into a deep passionate kiss. Ron felt Hermione's knees go weak, and as a result of this he held her closer than ever. When they finally broke apart, he whispered in her ear, "I love you Hermione. I've always loved you and will continue to do so."

With this, Hermione wrapped her arms around him even tighter and said, "I love you too Ron. Oh! I really love you." Instinctively, both of them moved towards the bed. Hermione lay down and Ron climbed on top of her. Hermione took his hand and placed it on her bosom and whispered, "Ron, make love to me." Once more immersed in a beautiful, heart-warming kiss, Ron and Hermione felt the most beautiful sensation creep through their bodies.

The next morning, Ron woke up to see Hermione's bushy head peacefully resting on his chest. He pulled her naked body closer and gently kissed her and thought, "I'm the luckiest guy on earth." He remembered the lyrics of a famous muggle song that he had heard on the disc Hermione gave him on his birthday.

"One love - for the city streets  
One love - for the hip-hop beats  
One love, Oh I do believe  
One love is all we need.

Everyone has to have someone to love, someone to be loved by. I have Hermione, I have my everything, everything I need, everything I love, everything I care for, everything I live for…

But he again remembered the lyrics of the same song.

Late at night I'm still wide awake  
Feel this is far more than I can take  
I thought my heart could never break-

No, my heart will never break. Hermione is always there for me. She'll always be by my side. This is the girl I want to spend my life with. I love her…

Hope you liked it. At last the made-for-each-other couple is together. Please read and review.

Lyrics of the song taken from "One Love" by Blue. So fans of Blue, you've got another companion.


	4. Service Before Self

Disclaimer- all the characters you recognize are Miss Rowling's. (Who else could invent such beautiful and lively characters?)

_**CLOSE TO MY HEART**_

_**CHAPTER 4**_

**SERVICE BEFORE SELF**

The brilliant hue of the morning sky lit up the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. Harry, Ron and Hermione were the first to come for breakfast. As they sat in their usual places on the Gryffindor table, the breakfast immediately appeared in front of them. Hungrily, they started piling food on their plates.

"Nice food. These house-elves always do a great job," said Harry through mouthfuls of food.

On hearing this, Hermione frowned and said, "Harry, don't be ridiculous. They don't get paid for it. And anyway, you should be thankful to them."

Harry smirked but was amazed to see Ron keeping so quiet. Normally he used to be the first person to start a fight with Hermione. But this time he didn't. Harry wondered why.

Turning to Ron he said, "Ron, you look so quiet. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah…Yeah of course. I'm fine," Ron stammered.

At this Hermione looked into her plate with her face red and started eating feverishly.

"Hermione", Harry addressed her, "both of you can tell me."

It was Ron who spoke. "Well, Harry; it's about Hermione and me. Actually-"

But he was cut off by Harry, who thumped him on the back and said, "Wow Ron, Hermione, so finally both of you have confessed your feelings to each other. It was so obvious since fourth year. Congratulations. This is fantabulous."

Both of them looked at each other with an amazed expression on their faces.

"Harry, but how do you know about it?" Hermione asked.

"What! Have you already forgotten those Occlumency classes with Snape?" he replied with an expression of mock tragedy.

But Ron did not hear any of this. He was looking straight at Hermione.

"Hermione, I had no clue, you've liked me since fourth year," Ron said.

Hermione blushed crimson and said, "I was waiting for you to make the first move."

With this both of them embraced each other and Hermione gave him a peck on the cheek. As they drew away, the Great Hall was filling with students. The staff table too was filled. Hagrid smiled at them and gave them a 'thumbs up' sign. In return they smiled up at him.

Their thoughts were interrupted by a great brown owl that swooped down at Harry and nearly bit off his ear.

"Hey!" Harry shouted at it and ducked his head.

It was Ron who came to his senses first. He untied the piece of parchment that was attached to the owl's leg. The envelope bore the symbol of a phoenix. As soon as Harry saw the envelope, he looked up at the staff table. Dumbledore and McGonagall were deep in conversation, and as a result they did not see him. Diggle and Hagrid too were talking. His eyes wandered to Snape, who was looking straight at him, making eye contact. Harry stared at him, and could make out that he did not want Harry to open the envelope there. Snape silently instructed him to go to his dormitory and open the packet. Harry tore his eyes away from Snape and tugged at his friends' arms.

"Let's go to our common room. This packet is important." In hushed tones he added, "The Order". Ron and Hermione immediately understood and followed Harry to the Gryffindor common room.

To their relief, the common room was empty, as everybody had gone for breakfast. The trio took their seats by the fireplace. Ron, who had the envelope with him, tore open the seal and took out, a piece of parchment on which was the neat curly handwriting that they knew too well. It read-

Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger,

An emergency has taken place and I need the three of you to help out the other Order members. Please come to my office today after your extra class for Transfiguration ends. All the Order members will be there. Password is 'Pumpkin Juice'.

Yours Truly,

Albus Dumbledore

"What kind of emergency can it be?" Ron mused out aloud.

"We'll find out today evening." Hermione answered him. But actually, she too was worried, because Dumbledore had never called them like that. It had to be something very serious.

After finishing their Transfiguration class, in which McGonagall for the first time had a faraway look in her eyes, they made their way to Dumbledore's office. As soon as they faced the stone gargoyle, and gave the password, it sprang open.

They entered Dumbledore's office, which was so familiar to them now, especially to Harry. Fawkes was sitting in its usual place. The phoenix's brilliant plumage took Hermione's heart away.

"Lo Fawkes", she addressed it quietly.

"So you all are here. Make yourselves comfortable." Dumbledore had arrived so suddenly, it looked as if he had apparated. He conjured several chairs and arranged them in a semicircle.

"The others will arrive soon."

With this he pulled out a Chocolate Frog card bearing his photograph, tapped it and said clearly, "The students are here. The meeting will begin soon. Please come fast."

Harry, Ron and Hermione were amazed to see this. Seeing their faces Dumbledore said, "This is how the Order members communicate. See? It's perfectly safe and handy." The trio smiled at him.

"Oh! I almost forgot-" He pulled out three similar Chocolate Frog cards and gave it to them. Seeing their questioning glances he said, "I'll explain when everyone is here."

Almost immediately, the flames in Dumbledore's fireplace started turning green and people started piling out. Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Elphias Doge,

Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, Hestia Jones, Remus Lupin and Rubeus Hagrid, all came out of the fireplace, covered in soot. Dumbledore waved his wand and the soot vanished. They all sat down.

In a minute after this, the stone gargoyle opened and in came Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Dedalus Diggle. McGonagall came in first, followed by Diggle and Snape, very close together, deep in conversation.

Harry looked at them, and instantly his ears were filled with a piercing scream that he knew belonged to his mother. He shut his eyes, hoping that the sound would end. There was silence.

It was Dumbledore's voice that broke the intensely noisy silence.

"All the members of the Order!" he addressed. "There is some really troubling news that I want to share with you. My friend Nicolas Flamel's wife Paranelle is no more."

This gave way to a lot of murmuring. Harry, Ron and Hermione were shocked on hearing the news. Although they had never known the Flamels personally, the Philosopher's Stone had built an unbreakable connection between them. They somehow felt intimate.

Hermione spoke up, "But professor, didn't she have the Elixir of life left within her?"

"An excellent question, Miss Granger," said Dumbledore. "You have put your finger on the point. Although the effect of the Elixir was fading, she still had enough to last her for another year. But she is dead. And that makes us think that foul play is involved."

"Albus, when did this happen? Where?" McGonagall asked in a hushed tone.

"It all happened yesterday night, in-" he looked straight at Harry, took a deep breath and continued, "in the Department of Mysteries. She fell through the veil."

Harry could not bear it any longer. He wanted to run away from there, to cry, to…to go to Sirius.

He got up very suddenly and said, "Excuse me. I've got to go." With this he stated moving towards the door.

But Dumbledore stopped him. "No Harry. You have to listen to this. You know why. You are the chosen one."

These words of Dumbledore made Harry stop in his tracks.

"Come and sit here. Harry, I know this is difficult for you, but sometimes service comes before self."

Harry looked into Dumbledore's eyes and immediately knew what he meant. He obeyed him and sat down on his seat.

"This meeting," continued Dumbledore, "has been called to investigate Paranelle's death. It is certain that Voldemort is behind all this. Yet, there is an ounce of doubt about what his motive is. The Philosopher's Stone has been destroyed, and Nicolas is not making another one. So probably-"

Dumbledore was interrupted once again. The flames in his fireplace started turning green and in came a man whom they had never seen. He came out and hugged Dumbledore. Hagrid slapped him playfully on the back and said, "Ah Aberforth. Good ter see you."

It was Dumbledore who introduced his brother to everyone assembled over there. He conjured a chair for him and motioned him to sit down.

"So," he continued once again, "we were discussing the motive. Aberforth, I told you about the happenings. So probably Voldemort just wants to spread fear and ultimately aim at killing Harry."

At this, Harry saw fifteen heads looking straight at him.

But Dumbledore again caught their attention.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, I would like to entrust this mission to the three of you. Your Christmas break is beginning from tomorrow. And Miss Granger if you'd kindly stay at Hogwarts for the break, Ron I've already spoken to your parents. You can depart for the Ministry of Magic tomorrow morning, and no one should where you are going or why you are going, and that is why this time all the students have gone home for the break. You will not use the Floo Network under any circumstances. You will depart by apparating from here. Any questions?"

Hermione raised her hand and asked, "But Professor, how do we apparate in Hogwarts?"

"Aha!" Dumbledore smiled. "At least some of you have read Hogwarts, A History. But anyway, I was coming to that point. You will not apparate from the Hogwarts grounds, but from the Hogwarts Graveyard."

"Sir?" Ron spoke up suddenly and very loudly. "Well, I didn't know that there is a graveyard at Hogwarts." He said sheepishly.

"Yes. There is a graveyard at Hogwarts. It lies on the other side of the Forbidden Forest." Dumbledore cleared his doubt.

"Professor, what exactly is our mission?" Harry asked.

"Your mission is to find out why Paranelle went there, and what exactly killed her. She could not have fallen through the veil on her own. You have to report to me the happenings that took place in the department of Mysteries. Mr. Arthur Weasley will help you if you need any help, as will the other members of the Order. But you will not seek the help of a person you do not know, or who is not a member of the Order. You will also visit the Minister of Magic, Felix Felicis and talk to him but he should not know that you are there to investigate Paranelle's death. Your cover-up would be that you want to see how the Ministry functions. In case of an emergency, you will immediately apparate back to Hogwarts. You can of course, communicate with me through the Chocolate Frog cards. I presume Ron has a whole big collection. Clear?" Dumbledore briefed them.

The next morning, they got up early and came to the common room. Hermione conjured some sandwiches for each one of them and they ate hurriedly. After this they rushed straight to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where Hagrid was waiting for them with Fang. Fang wagged his tail on seeing them. Harry rubbed his neck and Ron tickled him behind the ears.

"Come", he told the trio. "The centaurs have cooled down and Grawp now speaks perfect English. He has become highly controllable."

With this they hurried into the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid led them through the forest, using an overgrown path, and within no time they were in a large graveyard. It had the graves of all the Hogwarts headmasters. And there was one more grave, which bore the sign:

Harry Potter / Tom Marvolo Riddle

Hermione shuddered on seeing the grave. Ron comforted her by putting his arm around her shoulder. She looked into his eyes and smiled gratefully at him.

Hagrid interrupted their feelings and said, "Off ye apparate now."

And with a pop sound they just vanished into thin air.

They found themselves in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. The wizard at the table took their names and gave them the passes.

Next, they went to the office of the Minister of Magic. It was carved in gold with the sign:

Felix Felicis

Minister of Magic

They knocked on the door, and on hearing a high girlish voice that said, "Come in", they went inside.

On the large desk sat an intensely large man wearing bright yellow silk robes. His office was plastered with his smiling photographs, all having the sign 'Victory'. In most of the photographs, he was standing next to banshees, vampires, werewolves and every other kind of dark creature, which looked fake. Ron stifled a laugh on seeing the ornately decorated room, but shut up when Hermione punched him on the ribs.

"Ow! That hurts!" He whispered in her ear.

"So," said Felix Felicis on seeing them, "good to see you here in one piece in these dangerous times." He gave a nervous giggle and continued, "Well, I thought you might want to have a cup of tea with me. See I'm a very busy person; sorry I can't have lunch with you, but yes, tea. I'll just get it."

He again laughed his odd laugh and got up to go out of the room.

But Hermione said soothingly, "Sir, please sit I'll just conjure it."

"Oh…oh yeah. Charms. Dear old Professor Flitwick." He said distractedly.

With this he gave a very complicated swish to his wand and out of nowhere appeared a tray with cups, and a pot of boiling tea, all of which dropped to the floor with a loud crash.

"Um…I'm sorry. I'd…I'd better get some from outside." He said, pointing towards the door and getting up in a hurry. While getting up his massive body shook the entire table and several files crashed to the floor. Muttering an apology, he quickly exited the room.

"Sissy weirdo!" Ron said under his breath as Felicis left the room.

"Yeah, completely off his rocker." Harry agreed with him.

Hermione smiled wanly at their comments.

They had tea, which was completely a bore because the only topic of discussion was 'Felix Felicis and his bravery' in which he boasted to have killed Golgomath, one of the biggest and most powerful giants.

"Boasting fool," said Hermione as they left the room. "I was going through a few books and came across the record of marks obtained by all the students of Hogwarts. Our dear Minister got three O.W.L.s and two N.E.W.T.s. Idiot." She muttered.

Ron thumped her on the back and said, "You'll never cease to surprise me."

Seeing that Harry had already out of view, probably somewhere near the elevator and that he and Hermione were alone in the corridor, he pulled her closer to him and said, "Seriously Hermione, you'll never cease to surprise me."

She looked into his eyes and their lips met, lightly at first, but then more passionate, more demanding.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by Harry's voice that said, "Come on, we've to go."

Smiling at each other, and still holding the other very closely, they proceeded towards the elevator.

"I guess", started Harry, "We should start for the Department of Mysteries. I wonder why Dumbledore sent us to meet that moron."

"Yeah", Hermione backed him, "We're already very late."

Together they went to the Department of Mysteries, and into that corridor which they knew only too well. Hermione used the 'Flagrate' charm once again in order to guide them.

As soon as the required door opened, they felt a bit nervous about going inside.

Harry cautioned them and said, "This can be dangerous."

They all nodded their heads and took out their wands.

They passed the familiar doors, and eventually came across the one which had melted Sirius's knife. But this time as soon as Harry touched the handle, it automatically unlocked and they entered a room in the middle of which was placed a cauldron filled with a boiling liquid, which emitted sparks. The walls were lined with shelves which were holding all sorts of odd instruments. Hermione walked to the nearest shelf and picked up a very fragile glass instrument having a thin thread on its neck.

In it was a small piece of paper that read:

_I am like a thin thread,_

_I give you your life and bread,_

_I break when you pull me too much,_

_But I am the strongest thing as such. _

_I exist in every heart,_

_From me, it is difficult to part,_

_I am…Love._

"It's love," she said quietly. "Ron, Harry!" She called them. "I don't think we should remain here any more. Harry, this room is meant for you. It houses the most beautiful and the most terrible secrets of all time. It houses the secrets of love. Harry, the love in your mother's eyes, she sacrificed herself to save you. I think we should leave. This is something top secret. If Voldemort or any of the death eaters come to know about this room, they will have a very powerful weapon in their hands." Then without saying anything, she grabbed the boys by their hands and pulled them out of the room.

Suddenly, as soon as they stepped out of the room, Harry was hit by an inter-office memo, which said:

"The Dark Lord has his eyes on you. You will meet him where you least expect to. Go to Spinner's End if you want to save Ginerva Weasley."


	5. The Shadow Of Death

Disclaimer- all the characters you recognize are Miss Rowling's. (Who else could invent such beautiful and lively characters?)

_**CLOSE TO MY HEART**_

**_CHAPTER 5_**

**THE SHADOW OF DEATH**

"No…no this can't be. Ginny is safe. Nothing can happen to Ginny. Voldemort, he can't take Ginny." Ron was nearly shouting.

Hermione, in an attempt to calm him down said soothingly, "Ron, I'm sure she is fine. Nothing will happen to her. Ron, please, Ron." But her voice quavered and she was unable to stop her tears.

He held her close and looked at Harry who had been silent all this time due the shock.

"Where the heck is this Spinner's End?" He asked.

Harry scratched his head, and at last said, "I've heard the name somewhere, but I just can't place it. Got it! Diggle mentioned it in class. It used to be a graveyard having a unique variety of Nifflers, which went for bones, not metals; but now people don't go there."

"Do you know how to get there?"

"Knockturn Alley. We have to get there fast. Hermione, we will have to apparate. Are you sure you can manage?"

With tears on her face, Hermione nodded a yes.

They took out their wands and with a crack sound, vanished.

The nasty, forbidding, yet familiar smell of Knockturn Alley greeted Harry.

"This is the place." He said. "Now, it has to be somewhere here. Maybe here." He said, pointing to a dark corridor where the first shop held on display the skeleton of a man laughing maliciously and drinking blood.

Looking at it, Hermione exclaimed "Ugh!"

Ron comforted her and held her closer and said, "Can't we apparate to this damned place?"

Harry managed a weak smile and said, "Sorry mate, you can't. The Death Eaters have sealed the whole place. No one except people having the Dark Mark can apparate from there. Yes, this is it. Three right, nine up." Harry said, counting the bricks in the wall. He tapped the one he had chosen twice, but nothing happened.

Suddenly Hermione said, "Wait! I know. Diggle mentioned this sometime." She took out her wand and went to the wall. She drew a cross on the brick and muttered an incantation.

Almost instantly, the wall gave way to a huge graveyard. Unsure of what to do next, they started walking towards the graves.

But they were surprised a highly familiar babyish voice that said mockingly, "Ooh, Potter is here. His friends have also come. You received our invitation? Oh poor Ginny! You want to save her? There she is!"

Harry couldn't take it anymore. The woman who had killed the only person he had in this world was standing in front of him. "Bellatrix Lestrange, you killed Sirius, I'm going to kill you."

"Ooh Potter got angry. Anyway, thank you so much for reminding me that awesome moment. The pleasure I got by killing that blood-traitor cousin of mine!"

"You are insane." Hermione said through clenched teeth. "You killed the closest thing to a parent he ever had. You destroyed his life. You have that pure-blood mania, right? And you support that half-blood devil you call Voldemort?"

"Do not use the Dark Lord's name." Bellatrix hissed. "You mudblood! What do you know about him?"

"I know enough to say that all of you are crazy, insane, diabolical creatures. How can you have fun while killing all those innocent people? What exactly is it that you want? Power? Immortality? Strength? Ah. Your beloved creep, the ever famous Dark Lord himself is a half-blood. You call yourself Death-Eaters, right? Nasty name for even nastier people. Life is a gift. No man has got the right to terminate it."

"The Dark Lord is not a man. He is much, much more than a man. And you, Granger, shut your mudblood mouth. The Dark Lord doesn't think twice about killing mudbloods."

It was evident that Bellatrix was very angry.

At that moment a familiar face appeared out of nowhere.

"Professor Diggle!" Hermione was plainly surprised. "Sir, sir, Bellatrix Lestrange,-she killed Sirius. But sir, you, and here? The Order is here? This woman is mad!" Hermione couldn't speak.

But Diggle just said, "Relax Hermione."

Then, turning to Bellatrix he continued, "Bella, the Dark Lord wishes to see you. I'll get Harry Potter and his friends."

Bellatrix smiled at him and made her way to the other end of the graveyard.

The trio was shocked to see that their own Defence Against Dark Arts teacher, a member of the Order, a person they trusted could be in league with Voldemort.

With a malicious laugh, he said, "Didn't expect me to be here, did you? I'm amazed at your intelligence Hermione. I told you about Spinner's End and where it is. All that was for a specific purpose. All that was for the Dark Lord. I have been working for him all this time, as a spy. He was able to give me whatever I wanted, unlike your Dumbledore. It was me who sent you that interoffice memo saying that Ginny was with the Dark Lord. Don't think that it was just a trick to lure you here. She is here, awaiting her death. But before that, we have something special planned for you."

Hearing this, Ron shouted at him, "No, you will NOT hurt Ginny."

Laughing at Ron's outburst, he said, "The ultimate decision lies with the Dark Lord. Now, for that special something, you will have to come with me."

Not having any other option, they quietly followed him. He led them to a large plain area where Voldemort was standing with his back to them.

Bowing low, Diggle said, "Master, they are here."

And Voldemort turned. His face was partly covered by a hood, but his deathly white colour, scarlet eye-slits and twitching smile were very clear.

"Harry, Harry so nice to see you again. Dedalus has very graciously told me the contents of the prophesy, and I'm so glad to know that only one of us will survive. But anyway, I'm too bored of you Harry. Today let's see how Ron fights me to get his sister. This will be a proper wizard duel. If you win, you get your sister back and I turn to Harry. If you lose, well you lose everything." He finished with a small laugh.

"So come Ron, in the centre. I don't need a second. However, you may have one. Granger, how about it?" he asked Hermione.

"I will be his second. But I warn you Voldemort, you will not win this battle."

Hearing Hermione's words, a few Death Eaters laughed. But Voldemort did not take any heed. Determined not to show how scared they were, Ron and Hermione walked together to the centre of a circle, which the Death Eaters had made.

When they were positioned right in front of Voldemort, he said, "Now, we bow to each other. Voldemort gave a very small bow. Ron was determined not to bend, but Voldemort raised that phoenix feather wand and gave it a small swish and Ron felt an invisible hand pressing his back.

As soon as the hand released him, Voldemort yelled, "Incendio!" Ron's sleeves had caught fire.

Hermione could not hide her tears. The boy she loved the most was fighting against the most powerful Dark wizard of all time. She only wished to take Ron away, to save him from the jaws of death, to save him from Lord Voldemort. But she couldn't do anything. The whole of the wizarding community was at stake. What could she choose-Ron or a million innocent wizards?

By then Ron was dueling furiously. Suddenly Voldemort shouted, "Crucio!"

The pain of seeing Ron in pain was unbearable for Hermione. She forgot all her fears all stormed straight to where Voldemort was standing.

"You-" she began, but was cut off by Voldemort, who said in an icy tone, "Wait Granger, your chance will also come, but after him."

"You will not kill him! Why don't you kill me instead? Let him live." She screamed. Then trying to calm herself down, she continued, "Look, he is a pureblood, right? And I'm a muggle-born. Kill me!" She yelled.

"Old magic, eh? Love? Your muggle-loving fool Dumbledore thinks that this is going to work. No, Granger. Only one life will be taken today, that of Ginerva Weasley." He ended in a hollow laugh.

Ron was horrified to hear this. Harry was stunned and couldn't do anything about it. Hermione was too shocked to even respond.

Seeing their faces, Voldemort laughed once more and turned to Lucious Malfoy.

"Lucious, would you like to take the privilege?"

"Oh yes master, of course. It would be such a pleasure."

With that he lifted his wand. Ginny started screaming frantically. Harry was still unconscious. Ron was also getting hysterical. Hermione was trying to console him but she too couldn't hold back her tears.

But Lucious did not care about the plight of these young people. He did not care about the fact that Ginny was just sixteen. She had a whole life to live, to enjoy, to love…

He did not care that a seventeen-year old boy was losing his only sister; a mother was losing her only daughter. The Weasley family would now be minus Ginny, minus all the happiness Ginny was, minus the youngest and most-loved family member.

No, Lucious was a man made of steel, with a heart of stone. He was ready to give his own son for Lord Voldemort, then what was Ginny to him?

He lifted his wand high and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" There was a flash of green light and then there was nothing more. No Ginny's cackles of laughter, no Ginny's sweet smile, no…no Ginny.

Ron fell down to his knees and started crying uncontrollably. Hermione was no better, but she resolved to keep herself strong. Slowly she moved over to Harry and pointed her wand at his throat. In hushed tones, she said, "Ennervate!" Harry opened his eyes and began to say something.

Suddenly all the Death Eaters started disapparating and a hush fell over the entire Spinner's end. From the distance, the trio saw Professor Dumbledore leading the Order members. His blue eyes did not have any emotion, except that of hatred. He seemed to be irradiating some powerful energy. Fire seemed to be coming out of his eyes.

He looked at the trio's broke condition and said, "Harry, brace yourself for the war. Now our lives are not important. It's you who has to live. Everything is in your hands. Detach yourself from the whole world. You mother died to save you. You have to live for her. Harry, your friends are always there with you. Many will perish in this war, and still more will be destroyed, however, I must tell you that this is just the beginning. They went to their extreme limit. Now is our turn. I DECLARE THE WAR."


	6. The War

Disclaimer- All the characters you recognize are Miss Rowling's. (Who else could invent such beautiful and lively characters?)

**Author's Note:** There is a mild rape scene in this chapter. I have put up this Author's Note because the story carries a PG-13 rating. It is nothing serious. It is nothing graphic, but rape is mentioned.

_**CLOSE TO MY HEART**_

_**CHAPTER 6**_

**THE WAR**

"I DECLARE THE WAR!"

Dumbledore's words rang like bells in Harry's ears. They echoed in the empty graveyard. McGonagall, Snape, Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley and all the other members of the Order were there.

As soon as Dumbledore saw the Weasley parents, he went to them and hung his head. He addressed Molly saying, "I'm really sorry Molly, I hate to inform you this." He took a deep breath and continued, "Ginny is no more."

Hearing these words, Arthur and Molly did not respond. They stood like statues-shocked and unmoving. At last Molly broke down altogether crying, screaming in the pain of losing a child. She ran to where Ginny's body was and caught hold of her hands, pulling her towards herself, trying to pull her back to life.

In between sobs she said, "More than half the family in the Order, and that too in these dangerous times. Why didn't I see this coming? Oh Ginny, come back. Come back please."

Dumbledore quietly went to her and put his hand on her shoulder, "Molly, please. She is gone, never to come back. She has left this world and started her journey to the unknown. She has started her journey to a world whose secrets are unknown to us."

The rock-still form of Arthur Weasley yelled, "Voldemort will not live. I will avenge her death. VOLDEMORT! COME AHEAD AND FIGHT! I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ALIVE! VOLDEMORT!"

Suddenly, a part of the graveyard started emitting light. People stared apparating there. A magically magnified voice said, "DUMBLEDORE! IF THIS IS THE WAR, SO BE IT!"

Voldemort had just finished his announcement when the high voice of Bellatrix screamed, "Crucio!"

The spell hit Emmeline Vance, who dropped to the ground twitching in pain. Tonks rushed to her side with her wand out, pointing at the Death Eaters, and shouted, "Stupefy!"

Flashes of red and green and every imaginable colour were flying everywhere. The air was filled with high-pitched screams. There was death and destruction everywhere.

Suddenly, Lucious shouted the fatal curse. There was a blinding flash of green light, which was aimed straight for Dumbledore. But Snape ran to take it. It hit him squarely in the chest, and he dropped down. But it did not kill him instantly. Dumbledore bent down and tried to rest Snape's head on his lap. He pointed his wand at Snape and tried to revive him, but he put up his hand in order to stop him.

Breathing hard, he spoke, "Headmaster, please do not attempt to save me…no counter-curse. However, take care of Harry. All these years…mistreated him. Only he can kill…V…Voldemort. The secret…not told you for so many years…my house…study…old leather-bound diary. My end has come. I have to go.

These were his last words. With them he closed his eyes, for eternity. He was a very powerful wizard. The Avada Kedavra curse did not kill him immediately, as it had killed thousands of other victims.

For the first time in his life, tears welled up in Dumbledore's eyes. He felt responsible for Snape's death. Harry, who had been busy defending Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, as they were in no position to fight, saw Dumbledore's grief. He asked Hermione to take over for him and carefully made his way to Dumbledore.

"Sir…Professor?" He started.

But before Harry could speak anything further, Dumbledore said, "It's your job Harry, Remember what I told you about you being the chosen one? Many lives will be lost in this war, but they should not be looked upon as sad moments, but remembered as fond memories. I know this is hard for you, but you need to know. Don't remember Ginny as someone who is dead. When you think of her, think of all those happy moments you shared with her. Smile when you think of her. I know this is very, very difficult, but there are things worth dying for…"

**_MEANWHILE_**, the muggle world too was brimming with extraordinary events. It was somewhere between late December and early January, but the weather was harsh, stormy and rainy.

Mrs. Granger quickly shut the windows.

"Funny, isn't it? Storm in this part of the year!"

Mr. Granger told her, "Jane, you know the weather of England. It's so unpredictable. One moment it is raining and at the other bright sunshine."

But she was very serious and contradicted again, "All these things are making more scared than ever. There is lightning in the sky and thunder in the air."

"Yeah. Inside and out. Now that you mention it, I'm getting scared for Hermione. She told us about the war, and about its only result-loss and destruction everywhere. She even cautioned us that the Death Eaters could attack us as we are her parents."

"I know, Michael. And we are here in these trying times all alone. We don't even know how to protect ourselves."

With this Dr. Michael Granger went to his wife Jane and put his arm around her shoulder trying to comfort her.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise and people started screaming.

Jane ran to the window and looked out. The sight she saw before her was horrifying. The street had been blown up and several muggles killed.

As soon as she saw all this, he whispered in a low tone, "They have come…They are after us." Then she burst into tears and said, "Mike, they will kill us. We have to escape."

Together, they saw the scene at the window. Their normally picturesque surroundings had turned into a living hell. Muggles were being tortured by men in black cloaks and masks on their faces. Tears were now freely rolling down Jane's cheeks as she saw a muggle woman being levitated from the ground and her clothing strip away. Hell broke loose. The men put her on the ground and advanced towards her. People were yelling everywhere. Six men went straight to her and started doing unspeakable things. After they finished, the man with long brown hair casually picked up his wand and muttered the killing curse. After a blinding flash of green light, there was nothing more to be seen on the road.

The Grangers could not take any more of this. Jane was screaming and Michael had a look of horror on his face.

The same brown-haired man saw Jane at the window, screaming for the life of that woman, but the damage was done. He looked at the beautiful dentist and his lips curved up in a smile. Not taking his eyes off Jane, he walked over to his comrades and said, "The Grangers are here. The silly woman showed herself."

With this, around a dozen Death Eaters walked towards the Granger-Villa. The brown-haired one, with his wand out, cautioned the others, "Be careful. Dumbledore might be having this house under surveillance." The others just nodded and proceeded forward.

However, they entered the house with ease. It seemed as if there were no protective wards around the house. They went straight upstairs, to the room where Jane and Michael were. As soon as they entered the room, all the electric lights and bulbs flicked out, the entire room was engulfed by an eerie glow.

"Granger." His voice was no more than a whisper, yet so clear, so cold.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Michael said, comforting his cowering wife. Actually, he was also very scared, maybe not for himself, but surely for his family.

"Ah! Granger, you are talking as if you have never heard of us. I presume you mudblood of a daughter told you about us, the Death Eaters; and as to what we are doing here-" He looked at the others and a smile twitched near his lips, and continued, "we are here to kill you."

He slowly moved forward and pointed his wand at them. Michael thought that his best bet right now would be to buy a little more time. Timidly, he went to the man and said, "Wait! Why are you doing this to us? We haven't done anything to you."

The man laughed cruelly and hissed, "Your daughter attends Hogwarts. She is a mudblood. She is Potter's best friend. Isn't this enough reason?" Taking a harsh overtone, the man continued, "Don't think that we are fools. We know about the little conversation that you had with Dumbledore, agreeing to work for the Order of the Phoenix. But now your time is over."

With this, he lifted his wand and said, "Avada Kedavra."

After a blinding flash of green light, there was nothing more seen, nor heard.

**_TWO _**hundred kilometers away Hermione dropped to the ground unconscious.

**Author's Note: Well? How was it? Please review and tell me. Many many thanks to _sdonnelly_ for her review. **

**sdonnelly: **this is relly sad. but i hope u update soon.  
**Author:** I know this is a very sad story, but it does have a happy ending. I will try to update sooner now. Thank you once again.


	7. Snape's Diary

Disclaimer- all the characters you recognize are Miss Rowling's. (Who else could invent such beautiful and lively characters?)

_**CLOSE TO MY HEART**_

_**CHAPTER 7**_

**SNAPE'S DIARY**

There was grief, it was everywhere, but Dumbledore and Harry had to forget it for the time-being. If they did not forget it right now, there would be much more of it. Lord Voldemort would be immortal. He would continue to terrorize the world. But there was one way to escape all this. Voldemort had to be killed. And the method was in Snape's Diary.

That greasy haired professor had been hated all through his life. People teased him. No one empathized with him. No one was friendly with him. Even in Hogwarts, he felt out of place. All the other teachers shared an extremely good rapport with the students, but he was the only professor whom everyone despised. Even the Slytherins; although they made a good show of the opposite. If only there was someone to love him, someone to care for him, his life would have been very different. His past was something that bothered him. It did not allow him to rest in peace. He had been very much in love with Lily Evans, but knew he could never have her. He was a lost man, a man who had lost his desire for life.

Slowly, but steadily Dumbledore and Harry made their way to Snape's house. Harry didn't even know that Snape had a house of his own. How Harry had hated that greasy potions teacher! But now that he was no more, he sort of missed him. Snape despised Harry just because he looked like his father, but he had also saved his life a time too many.

When Harry came to know how Snape met his fate, tears welled up in his eyes. He had died to save Dumbledore. The killing curse had been directed at Dumbledore, but Snape jumped in front of it. By now, tears were flowing freely. Quietly he said, "Severus, I'll miss you."

Dumbledore's calm, but grief-stricken voice said, "Harry, please come to the study, fast. We have to look for Severus's diary.

With this they entered the enormous study of Severus Snape. The ceilings were very high and the top could barely be seen. There were book shelves lined along all the walls. Harry looked closely and saw that Potions and Defence Against Dark Arts books covered most of the shelves, although it was impossible to go through all the titles. In the far corner of the room was a small rosewood table. It was piled high with papers. There was a small pen-stand in which were many quills of different kinds. Harry's gaze moved beyond the quills and wandered over to a brown leather-bound diary. The cover was old and worn out. The diary looked well-thumbed.

Slowly, he lifted the diary in his arms, and immediately regretted doing it. The diary was very heavy. Holding his breath, for what he may find in it, he opened it and went over to the first page.

And he read a very old entry. It had been entered in Snape's fifth year.

_27/05_

_Dear Diary, _

_How can a Slytherin fall in love with a Gryffindor? And that too, why am I mad about Lily Evans? Those flowing red tresses, those emerald green eyes, her sight makes me completely crazy. And there are so many difficulties that I face. Nobody, not even my fellow Slytherins like me. To top it all, James Potter, the most sought after guy after Sirius Black, has also fallen for Lily. The day the O.W.L.s ended is the worst day of my life. Potter and Black tormented me in front of everyone, the whole school was there to watch. I felt so humiliated after the whole incident. Lily too saw me. It was horrible. She did say a few things to Potter and Black, but left without a word to me. I feel so helpless. The girl I love doesn't love me back. But one day I shall have her. I will do anything just to have her. _

Harry's heart was beating very fast when he read this. He turned several pages without reading the contents as he was searching for the method to kill Voldemort. But his eyes fell upon another entry which Snape had written in his seventh year.

_19/4_

_Dear Diary, _

_Why is she going out with him? What does he have that I don't? Why doesn't she love me instead? I love her and can give everything she wants. So why Potter? Why? She knows that I love her, still when I confessed my true feelings to her, she very calmly told me that she did not feel the same way about me. How pathetic is that! She is going out with that messy-haired show dog. She hated him all these years, and now suddenly fell for his charms. I still love her, and have done so since I set my eyes on her for the first time before our first year, in the train. That memory is still very clear. I first saw her outside platform nine and three-quarters. She and her muggle parents were desperately searching for the entrance. It was 10:58 and they were desperate to get to the platform before eleven. Just as I moved forward to help her, Potter and Black came running with their trolleys, closely followed by a panting Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Potter saw her and his heart skipped a beat. He went straight to her and showed her the way, and even offered to carry her luggage, but she politely declined. All these years, she was aghast with his big-headedness but now again she had fallen in love with him. I love her, and will never forget her. I will do whatever it takes me to bring her back to me. I love her. Love? Is it really love, or is this…lust? Well, I don't know and I sincerely don't care. I'm willing to pay any price to get her back. _

Harry felt a surge of anger after reading all this. Hastily he turned a few pages and came over something that Snape had written when he was around 21.

_17/10_

_Dear Diary,_

_I have taken all the wrong decisions in life. I felt this unending lust for Lily. I wanted her at any cost. And I thought that if I join Voldemort all my troubles would be over? No, my troubles began as soon as I joined that maniac who wants to rule over the world after killing its entire population. I got the dark mark, which will continue to scar me forever. I realized my mistake when Dumbledore explained everything to me. He told me that true love is all about giving, not taking. It's about being selfless. It's about dying for someone. These words of Dumbledore touched my heart, if I ever had one. If I didn't, I was starting to grow one. I just wish that Potter and Evans always live happily together. I know I will never have her, but my happiness is in her happiness. I have also taken another decision. I will spy for the Order. I will prove myself. I will take revenge from Voldemort. He will not scar my life anymore. It takes a whole lifetime to trust someone, but it just takes one act to destroy it. Fortunately, Dumbledore believes in giving second chances to everyone. I will rebuild the trust he once had in me. I am not afraid of death. I only wish to die for a good cause. _

Tears started rolling down Harry's cheeks when he read this particular entry. Severus, you died for a very good cause-this was all he could think. He turned a few more pages, determined not to read anything, but what he was meant to. Finally, he came to the page for which he had been searching. The date wasn't written, but it was near the end of the diary. Therefore Harry assumed that it must have been written recently. In fact it was not even a proper diary entry. It looked like a note of some kind.

_Harry, and Professor Dumbledore (if you are there),_

_I know you will be reading this only after I die. Harry, I would like to apologize to whatever I did to you all these years. I presume the war is not yet over, and that is why you would be going through my diary. I had willed myself that I would not tell you about this until my dying day. Harry, you are the most powerful wizard of all time, and Voldemort is your equal. Together, both of you can tear the world apart, if you start dueling again, with magic. Of course, due to the reverse spell effect, you will only be able to hurl minor hexes at each other. However, there is one way of killing Voldemort, which is destroying his essence. You must do this in order to survive and save the whole world. Voldemort feels that death is the biggest punishment that can be given to someone. He also feels that immortality is the most important thing. You job is to prove him wrong. You must tell him that love is the most important thing in this world. Death is not the most horrible punishment, nor is it the goal of life. Instead, life is a journey; it begins with love, and ends with love. It is a beautiful gift given to us, and no one has the right to take it away. Love is something the Dark Lord does not understand. You have to defeat him with love. There is a spell that works only when there is love and selflessness in the heart of the person casting it. It is from one of the ancient Indian texts. It reads, "Sneha jayate nafrat mrityuh." This is a spell which Voldemort cannot cast as he does not understand love. Saying this you must pierce an arrow though Voldemort's heart. However, due to Priori Incantatem, you cannot use your wand. You have to kill Voldemort using a wand that is an equal to your own wand. In other words, you have to kill Voldemort using his own wand. Best of luck, Harry. I know you will succeed. In the end, the good always wins over the evil._

_Severus Snape. _


	8. Under The Dark Mark

Disclaimer- All the characters you recognize are Miss Rowling's. (Who else could invent such beautiful and lively characters?)

_**CLOSE TO MY HEART**_

_**CHAPTER 8**_

**UNDER THE DARK MARK**

_Two hundred kilometers away Hermione dropped to the ground unconscious. _

The Weasleys had always treated her as their own daughter. Her pain had always been their pain. They knew that Hermione and Ron had fancied each other for quite some time, but they did not know that they were already together. They would love to have Hermione Granger as their daughter-in-law. They wanted her to be Mrs. Hermione Ronald Weasley. They wanted to still expand the Weasley family. Arthur and Molly would have late night discussions about how many grandchildren they wanted to have. Arthur would say at least thirty, but Molly try to talk him down to twenty. But Arthur would defend himself saying, "Molly, we have seven children. Even if they have four kids each, we are bound to have twenty-eight grandchildren." And they would discuss their children. Molly said, "Bill is dating Fleur; Charlie, Fred and George are single, Ron has a thing for Hermione, and Ginny, ah well you know her." At this comment, Arthur would laugh, and Molly with him. But this was before the war broke out, before every single person lost the reason to smile, to laugh. Since the war, many lives had been lost, and still more destroyed. The wizarding community could only hope now. Hope that the war would end soon.

As soon as they saw Hermione fall to the ground, unconscious, they ran forward to help her, not caring the spells that came their way. Arthur held Molly's hand and they made a run for it. If Hermione needed them, they would help her at any cost. They were still in the battleground. Their youngest and only daughter…no not their only daughter, Hermione was no less than a daughter to them. But Ginny was dead. She was no more.

They bent down over Hermione and shook her. Molly placed her head on her lap and stroked her forehead. With this, Hermione finally regained consciousness and asked in a low dehydrated voice, "Mum…Dad…where are they?" She suddenly started screaming very loudly, "My mum and dad! Where are they?"

Molly made some soothing sounds but they did not cool Hermione a lot. They finally decided to take her to the Burrow, where she would at least be safe. Arthur was a little apprehensive about leaving the war, but he could not let Molly go alone. Thus, they went to Knockturn Alley, from where they apparated to the Burrow.

They popped right in the living room, where sat a very distraught Ron who was crying madly.

As soon as Molly saw her son in such a state, she went and hugged him, and she too started crying on his shoulder. He saw Hermione standing behind Molly. Her angelic face only had silent tears. How could he break this news to her? It would completely unbuckle her. The war spelled death and disaster, nothing else.

Slowly, he walked to her. She couldn't take it any longer. She ran to him and buried her face in his broad chest and cried her heart out. He pulled her tighter against him and tried to calm her down.

When they finally pulled away from each other, Ron cupped her cheek in his hand and said, "Hermione, you must bear this. Your parents are no more. Death-Eaters killed them."

Hermione stopped crying. Tears would just not come. She looked at Ron's face in horror, and SMACK! She slapped him hard. Ron's only response was to pull her closer to him.

"I understand Hermione. I understand what you are going through. But you must face this." He then raised his voice and started shouting at her, "Don't you give a damn to your dead parents? Aren't you sad because of their demise? Then why aren't you CRYING? Cry Hermione, let your tears out. Don't hold them back. Your parents are not truly gone. They are somewhere up there, looking at you, felling sad at your sad moments, feeling overjoyed at your happy ones."

This broke Hermione down. She moved still closer to him and burst out crying. Ron started stroking her hair gently and finally rested his hand on the nape of her neck. She closed her eyes. He tilted his head and felt her do the same. Involuntarily, she parted her lips and wet them. Within no time, his lips were on hers and he entered her mouth. Hermione too kissed him back, their tongues exploring the depths of each others mouths and battling for supremacy at the same time. Ron's hands snaked around her curves, making her moan. Hermione too, was ruffling Ron's hair all this time, first softly, and then more urgently, as their kiss grew more passionate.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a huge blast which rocked the whole house. Arthur and Molly ran down the stairs. Seeing them coming, Ron and Hermione hastily broke apart. Molly reached down first and addressed the children, "Both of you run away from here. It's the Death-Eaters. We have some important Order papers with us. We will gather them and come after you. Now run. We can take care of ourselves."

"But mum-" After all the past happenings and the circumstances at hand, Ron was bound to fell scared.

"_NOW!_" She shouted at him. "Ron, Hermione; look, you have to run. We have no time. They will be here any moment. And…and if we don't come back remember that we will always love you. If both of you decide to marry, our blessings are with you."

All the four people there had tears in their eyes.

"Now run!" Once again Molly shouted.

Hand-in-hand Ron and Hermione ran out. They could not use the Floo Network because that would be watched. They had to resort to muggle means to escape.

Death-Eaters started to enter the house, but a certain man with flaming red hair was standing on the gate, with his wand drawn out. His eyes spelled anger and hatred for the Death-Eaters and love and repentance for his family. How could he ever think that his parents and the Order could be wrong and the Ministry right? He regretted every decision he made. The proud, perfect Percy was gone. Instead, there was a man who could do anything for his family, anything to be with his parents again, and anything to win their trust again.

"You will not enter this house till I'm here." Percy shouted at the Death-Eaters. Arthur and Molly were shocked to see Percy there. Their son had left them after a huge fight more than two years ago. But now he was back, back to save the lives of his parents. He was back to fight the raging war against Lord Voldemort.

Only one word could pass through Molly's lips, "Percy…" Tears came into her eyes and she ran forward to hug her son. She forgave him, and how couldn't she? She had not seen her son for so long. Which mother can ever stay away from her own son, her own flesh and blood?

"No mum." Percy stopped her from coming near him. It was not for the Death-Eaters; he would run into her arms and melt into her motherly embrace. The blinked away the tears that were coming into his eyes, and on a higher tone shouted to the Death-Eaters, "Go back. You will not get anything here, but death. Go back to your Lord, the maniac Voldemort."

At this the Death-Eaters started laughing evilly and said, "Weasley, you cannot stop us. The Dark Lord shall win this war. He will emerge victorious. Then he will reward all his loyal Death-Eaters beyond their wildest dreams. You and all the other blood traitors shall perish at the hands of the Dark Lord."

This speech gave rise to more laughter. But Percy was not a person who could be intimidated by such things. He stood there boldly in the doorway and yelled, "Stupefy!"

A Death-Eater dropped to the ground stunned. The other Death-Eaters charged towards the Burrow. But Percy was continuously yelling spells at them. He stunned a few Death-Eaters and hexed many more with minor hexes. All this time Arthur and Molly tried their best to go to the aid of their son, but Percy did not allow them.

After about fifteen minutes of vigorous dueling, a Death-Eater caught Percy from behind his back and pointed his wand at his throat. Percy dropped his wand and put his hands down in defeat. The Death-Eater muttered the fatal curse. All was green and Percy dropped to the ground dead.

Arthur and Molly lost two of their children on a single fateful night. Tears would just not stop. But they had to save themselves, for their other children who needed them.

But alas! The Death-Eaters had already entered their house. They had spread all over and arranged themselves into a circle around them. Together all of them yelled, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" The entire house was engulfed in bright green light.

Half a kilometer away, Ron and Hermione saw the Dark Mark hovering over The Burrow.


	9. The Biggest Loss

Disclaimer- All the characters you recognize are Miss Rowling's. (Who else could invent such beautiful and lively characters?)

_**CLOSE TO MY HEART**_

_**CHAPTER 9**_

**THE BIGGEST LOSS**

_Half a kilometer away, Ron and Hermione saw the Dark Mark hovering over The Burrow. _

It confirmed their worst fears. They knew what had happened, but refused to believe it. The Dark Mark was over _The Burrow. _This could only mean one thing. But it wasn't possible…or was it? Lord Voldemort would go to any lengths for spreading terror in the whole world. He would torture, kill and Merlin knows what else. But in the end he would pay for whatever he has done. He will pay the price of death with death, his own death. He will be killed one day, killed never to return again. All his followers shall meet the same fate. What do the Death-Eaters think? That Voldemort will protect them? No, he will never do that. He is just a selfish idiot who, if threatened will run for his life. He will not give a damn even if the lives of his supporters are threatened. He only cares about himself. First, he wanted the Elixir of Life for himself. But what about his followers? They were not getting any Elixir. They would remain mortal and die one day. Then he made a Death-Eater plant that diary in Ginny's bag. Ginny trusted Tom Riddle and shared all her problems with him. But his motive behind all this was to get Harry Potter. And what did Ginny get in return? Tears, torture, death? And then, when Harry at last got some happiness from his Godfather, the closest thing to a parent he ever had, Voldemort took that away too. He had destroyed countless number of lives. Not just the lives of the people he had killed, but also the lives of the people who were close to the deceased person. He had even killed and tortured many of his own Death-Eaters. Was this the way he should have treated his loyal followers? Whenever they met, the first thing that the Death-Eaters did was to kiss the hem of his robes. They treated him with so much respect. Although they treated the wrong person respectfully, they were still loyal. Although they had killed many people, they were still doing the jobs entrusted to them well. There is no excuse for killing, no one deserves death. But a person who has killed and tortured so many, does he not deserve death? The answer is NO. He does not deserve death. In fact, he deserves something that is even more horrible than death. Death is not the worst punishment. He will only truly understand his mistakes when he is given something worse than death. His entire essence has to be destroyed. He doesn't understand love. Therefore, love has to be used against him. He has to be destroyed at any cost. Else he will destroy the world. With Voldemort gone, the world would again be a place of friendship, tranquility, and love.

All these thoughts crossed the young minds of Ron and Hermione as they saw a huge burst of green light coming out of the windows of The Burrow. Now there was practically no doubt as to what might have happened there. Molly and Arthur were dead.

On the same night, two people who loved each other madly, more than anything else had lost their parents. They had shared everything with each other, even their bodies; they had to share this misery too.

Ron was shell-shocked to see this. Hermione felt the same. First she had lost her own parents, and then people who were as good as parents to her. She quietly took Ron's hand in her own and held it reassuringly.

"Mum…Dad…" Only these words could escape his mouth.

At this, both of them burst into tears. They hugged each other and brought themselves closer. They were both patting each other on the back, tears leaking out of their eyes.

At last they broke away from each other. Ron still held her head in the palm of his hands. He whispered to her, "Hermione, this is a war zone. Lives will be lost and destroyed. There is only one way to stop all this. Voldemort has to lose. For that Hermione, we have to fight. We just have to fight." His voice cracked with tears. He couldn't say anything more.

At this Hermione spoke between sobs, "Ron, this war is very dangerous. Anything can happen." She held his hand more tightly than ever and continued, "Promise me Ron, if I die you will find happiness once again. You will marry, you will also have kids. I just want you to be happy. Remember Ron, I'll be up there always watching you. I'll be sad when you are sad, happy when you are happy. Your grief will be mine, and all my happiness yours."

After hearing these words, Ron could say nothing more. He only managed to cry more and pull Hermione, once again, into a tight embrace.

And together, with their head held high, they started walking forward. At the same time, something in Ron's pocket started moving. He put his hand inside to find his Chocolate Frog card bearing Dumbledore's photograph. Dumbledore was back there. There was some kind of sound coming from the card. Ron looked at the card and tried to listen intently.

Dumbledore was saying, "Voldemort and the other Death-Eaters are in the Hogwarts graveyard. Please come fast. Apparate to the place where you saw the empty grave." After this message, Dumbledore's face vanished from the card.

Ron nudged Hermione lightly and told her about what Dumbledore had said. Together, they apparated to the Hogwarts graveyard.

The sight they saw there made them nauseous. It seemed like a replica of what they had seen earlier at Spinner's End, the only difference being that there was more bloodshed here. Voldemort was here, in all his fury, sparing no one, killing all. There were dead bodies everywhere.

They held out their wands and moved forward to where Voldemort was standing. His Death-Eaters were doing all the work. He was just standing there, enjoying the scene in front of him. He saw Ron and Hermione, bravely walking towards him. He smirked at them. But they were not to be intimidated. They were driven by a fire, which only told them to avenge their parents' and Ginny's deaths. They were going to fight on Voldemort's terms now. Anger and courage had taken the place of soft heartedness. They went straight to where Voldemort was standing and Ron challenged him to duel once again.

At this Voldemort started laughing and said, "Remember what happened last time? And still you want to duel with me?"

Ron clenched his teeth and retorted, "Voldemort, I will duel you once again, and this time, I will kill you. You will not live any longer." With this, he raised his wand and shouted; "Avada Kedavra!" there was a flash of green light. It hit Voldemort square in the chest, but nothing happened. He was still standing high, this time laughing that maniacal laughter of his.

Ron and Hermione looked at him, their eyes filled with horror.

It was Voldemort who cleared their doubt. "Do you think I am just a man? No. how wrong you are! I am much much more than a man. You cannot kill me Weasley, and neither can you Granger and neither can anyone else, well, except Harry Potter."

After these words, Voldemort made some hissing sounds. He was talking in Parseltongue. His pet snake Nagini came to him. He made some more hissing sounds and the snake started moving towards Ron. Hermione saw this and screamed. She knew that the King Cobra was very poisonous. A single bite would mean death, and she couldn't let Ron die. She loved him, and was ready to give her own life for him. She therefore jumped in front of him and the snake pounced on her. It buried its poisonous fangs into her soft skin. She only had time to say, "Ron, disapparate. Go somewhere safe. I love you and always will." After her last few counted breaths, she lay in Ron's arms, dead.

Author's Note: The story does not end here, but the flashback does end. From the next chapter onwards, it will be Ron's present life, and the future. Hope you like the rest of it. And you know how to tell me you like it…REVIEW. I don't only want positive reviews, constructive criticism is also welcome. I want anything that would help me to write better.


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